Superstar Mario appears as Baby Mario's power-up in the Super Mario-Kun volume 14, the adaption of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It enables Baby Mario to climb up walls and float as it did in the games, but also gives him super strength. The strength enables him to beat up enemies and even use boulders to hurt Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi when he gets angry.

Superstar Mario appears as a Legend class spirit with a neutral type in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is obtained when players level up the Baby Mario spirit to Level 99. His special ability is a First-Strike Immunity, in which the player who uses him gets a brief moment of invincibility if they get the first strike. He also comes with three open slots for support spirits.

During development, the star item was initially conceptualized to turn Baby Mario into the adult, mustachioed Mario, but it was pointed out this concept would seem strange. Shigeru Miyamoto joked he still prefers this early idea to the final version.[10]